Staying Gold
by cocobunni
Summary: A story set one year later after the ending of the book, on Ponyboy's birthday :D I did it for school. Please read :


**(O.O) Um, this is just one of those "One year later..." things for one of my English projects that I did. It's a little...oddly done, but I'm trying to learn how to write in S.E. Hinton's style, cause I like it so much (o_~)...Anyways, please review. Constructive critisicm is encouraged as well!**

* * *

I stared out the window, resting my head on my arm. The sun was slowly starting to rise. Not me though. I just lay there in bed, thinking. I could hear Sodapop snoring next to me, loudly. I didn't mind, 'cause I always hear it during one of the days like this one, where I randomly wake up real early and just lay there, thinking about things.

A strange noise came from the kitchen, causing me to shake a little bit from my shock. It sounded like pans that had clanged together. I foolishly wondered if there was some sort of burglar in the house. Curious, I got out of bed, freeing myself from Soda's arm. I stretched a little, then walked cautiously to the doorway of the kitchen to take a look.

There stood Darry, rummaging through our cupboards for a pot or a pan or something. He didn't seem to notice me. His eyes were real focused. "Hey." I said, rubbing my eyes and leaning against the doorway. Darry looked at me in surprise the second I said that. I expected him to say something like "What are you doing here?" but instead, he replied with: "Hey?" I sort of almost laughed at the unexpected answer. "Good morning." I said to satisfy him. Darry chuckled.

"That's more like it, Pony. You shouldn't be up yet, by the way. Too early."

This caused me to have to stifle my yawn. "Why?" I asked.

"Do you know what today is?" Darry said, without looking up from what he was doing.

"...Today's my birthday." I answered, after a short while.

Darry looked up at me again. "Yeah."

I came into the kitchen and sat on the table, swinging my legs back and forth. I watched him for a while. He seemed to be uneasy because of me. "Why am I not supposed to be up just 'cause it's my birthday?" Darry sighed and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"Hey, what are we doing here without me?" Soda said, standing in the doorway. I looked at him and smiled.

"Hey, Soda!" Soda looked back at me and waved, but then looked at Darry again.

"Hey…You're making a cake without me?" He pointed out. Darry shot him a disappointed glare.

"Aw, you ruined it, Soda!"

"Huh, don't say that!" Soda exclaimed. "He was going to find out anyways." I looked at the two of them, not knowing what to say. Everything had fallen silent.

"But can I help?" I asked, casually. The two looked at me, then Soda spoke.

"Kid, it's your cake. We're supposed to be doing it." He walked over to help Darry to emphasize this. I looked at the both of them with pleading eyes.

"Please?" I said, quietly. Darry spoke once I said that word.

"Oh, alright. Just let him, it's his birthday, anyway."

I jumped off the counter. "Yay!" I shouted, crouching down to help them find the proper container.

Eventually, we finished making most of the cake. We just had to put it in the oven.

Since we were all fooling around so much and talking all the while, it was already almost seven by that time. We were just sitting around the table, when we heard the door open. We saw Steve come in through the door, with a plastic bag full of stuff in his hand. "Steve!" Soda called. He ran to him, and gave him a deliberate hard pat on the back, Steve scowling at him. Then he took the bag out of his hand and examined the contents inside. "This is great, Steve!" Soda exclaimed. He looked back at the kitchen. "Darry, hey Darry!" He called. "Come and help us! Pony, you go back to the room! We're going to decorate now!" I gave a gentle laugh. Soda was real good at spoiling surprises. Honestly, I actually wouldn't have known what they were going to do if he hadn't said that. I sighed and walked to my room.

Once there, I sat in my chair and leaned back. I pondered on what to do, as I looked around the room. Finally, my eyes caught sight of a medium sized, thick notebook lying on the desk, near a bundle of unorganized papers and a can of pencils. I fully knew what it was. My hand actually shook a little as I reached for it. I hadn't touched this in a while. It was the essay I wrote for English class almost a year back…

It was in my hands, and I just sat there, staring at it. I then decided to open it, carefully. I examined the first page. A big red A+ in a circle lay in the top left corner. The story was untitled, which docked some points off, but because of the length of my composition, it brought the grade up. I read the first few words, scrawled in cursive, and in pen.

_When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home._

Oh, yeah, I thought. I remember this.

I kept reading my story, recounting the memories and experiences and remembering —clearly—all that happened, exactly how they happened. In my head, I was picturing Dally's fun-loving and playful face as the three of us—Me, him, and Johnny—were having fun and chasing a couple kids before we went to the movies that day. I saw Johnny's fearful eyes and trembling lips later that night when I awoke, drenched in ice cold water, to him holding the bloody switchblade in his hands. I took a look at the church Johnny and I stayed in together. And I saw it burned down. I then saw the emergency ambulance, taking us all away…

I felt two hands grab firmly at my shoulders, and I jumped, almost collapsing in shock. "Heeeyyy thhheerrree Pooonnnyy!" A familiar voice said behind me, as he shook me vigorously in my chair.

"Stop it, Two-Bit! Stop it!" I demanded, laughing. He finally stopped, then ruffled my hair and started laughing. I looked back at him. A large grin was stretched across his face. I didn't even notice he came into the room. I must've been really engrossed in my reading.

"What're you doing, kid?" He asked, staring down at me, and not losing that grin. I looked back at the notebook held firmly in my hands.

"I was reading…"

"Reading what?"

"The…essay. From last year, remember?"

Two-Bit looked at the notebook in my hands, then gave an emphasized, slow nod. "Oohhh. I get it."

When I came home one day, excited that I got back such a good grade on it, Darry and Soda were the first to read it. Next was Two-Bit, and I remembered his varied expressions as I watched him read it on the days he came over. He seemed to really like it.

"Did you just get here?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Nah," He responded. "I've been helping Steve and your brothers. They wanted me to come and get you." I stood up from my chair.

"Alright then. I'm going." I said, as I put down the notebook and walked out the door. Two-Bit followed.

I walked out into the living room. Darry, Soda, and Steve looked up at me. "Happy Birthday!" They all said in unison. I smiled as I looked around the room, streamers were messily taped everywhere. There was even a large sign in big, bold, colorful letters that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

"Aw, thanks you guys!" I beamed, trying to suppress my amazement. I didn't have a birthday like this since mom and dad were here. The cake was laid out in the table, and there were fifteen colorful candles on top. The guys sang happy birthday, and I blew them out, making a secret wish in my head as the flickering orange flames disappeared. We all then sat down together and started to eat at the chocolate cake, Darry having the honors of cutting it into five huge slices.

Five? I didn't remember having five in our gang. There used to be seven…

I was still trying to get used to it. Things had changed so much in the past year.

Darry and I didn't fight that much anymore, though we still had a lot of trouble understanding each other. But because we didn't understand each other, we talked together a lot more, and we were closer than before. Sodapop and I were still as close as we were, never getting into fights or anything. He recently had gone back to school again, and worked real hard. I was really happy for him. Steve didn't hate me anymore. Actually, we made more of friends. Finally, Two-Bit was the same guy he'd always been. But he was now my best friend, since Johnny wasn't around. We all never really talked much about Johnny and Dally. It hurt us too much. It still hurt, except we just pretended everything was fine.

However, I tried my best to enjoy myself and not think about it anymore. After we were all finished eating and washing the dishes, we all sat together on the front porch in complete silence, watching…_life_ go by, pretty much. The whole "not think about it anymore" thing proved not to work, though, when I tried to start up a conversation. "Hey, I was reading that essay that I wrote last year. You know, the one for my English project?" Everyone fell silent. I started to get uneasy, and thought to myself how stupid it was to say that. Leave it to Darry to try and turn the subject around.

"Oh, yeah. I remember. That's the one that brought your report card to have an A on it rather than a C." He was clearly trying to ignore the subject that seemed to be the main purpose of the statement. I actually didn't want to talk about it either, so I agreed.

"Yeah." I said, trying to blend in with Darry's tone, so that the uncomfortable mood would go away. Steve came in to the conversation.

"Do you…miss Dally and Johnny, Ponyboy?" I looked at him, feeling small. I missed them enormously, but I didn't want to show it, especially because the others were brave enough and cool enough to never show it in the least bit. I admitted the truth, though.

"Yeah. A whole lot." I didn't want to start bawling in front of them, but you could almost kinda hear it in my voice, which came out a little cracked. I didn't exactly enjoy the subject. "But let's not talk about it, you know." I added quickly. "It's making me sad." Steve gave a gentle smile, but looked at Soda, as if he expected him to say something. Soda turned to look at me, but Two-Bit spoke instead.

"Now, why would you be sad, Pony?" He said, consolingly. I didn't know he was able to sound like that. I didn't know he was able to have that tone through his foolish and rascal nature. I looked at him with an expression that said: "Why wouldn't I be, idiot?" Two-Bit only laughed at this, then got up from his chair and walked into our room. He came out holding the notebook in his hands. He then flipped through the pages and stopped at a certain one. He showed it to me, pointing with his index finger to a certain sentence in quotations.

_Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold._

I looked at it in a confused expression.

"Remember what he meant?" Darry said. "It was from the poem…" Two-Bit closed the book and put it in my lap.

"Yeah." I said, quietly. We all remembered.

"He said he thought the poem meant that we were all gold when we were kids, you know? Also, I think that the poem meant that the great things in life aren't gonna last forever." He paused, just like he was going to say something else, but didn't.

"So?" I said, kinda rude.

"So," Darry said, unaffected. "We've all been trying to live up to what he said. We're all kinda still kids…and it's not gonna last. We're all going to have to support families someday, and if not, we're going to have to support each other." I saw a small smile form on his face, then he continued. "See, Soda got back into school, and he's working really hard. He's gotta do it now, while he's still young enough and he's still got a chance. It's gonna do good for him someday…Steve and you have finally become friends. This gang might not be together forever, and we've already lost two precious people…so it's good that we can all be good friends and make the most of what we've got. Two-Bit…" He looked at Two-Bit as if there was nothing good to say about this. Two-Bit scrunched up his nose and gave an amused smile, and Darry just laughed and continued. "Two-Bit's kinda just keeping us together. We'd all be real serious if it weren't for him, y'know. Me, I'm trying to work hard at my job so that I can keep you guys living. I'm trying my best to not fight with you, or anyone else." I didn't say a word.

"Pony," Darry finally said. "Johnny said these words to you, in particular. I…all of us, are really proud of you. You've been keeping strong throughout all of this. You've been trying your hardest at everything" He grinned. "And, yeah, you still dig sunsets." He gave me a gentle smile, and rubbed my hair. "So don't be sad. Johnny, and maybe even Dally…would be _real_ happy for you if they were still alive."

I just sat there, looking at my shoes for a moment.

He then fell into a warm embrace. I hugged him back, then felt Soda, Two-Bit, and Steve join in. I could also almost feel two others for some reason, but I remembered that we were only just five.


End file.
